How does online dating in New York City compare to working with a matchmaker, matchmaking agency, matchmaking service and dating service?

New York City took #9 spot on Forbes' "Top 12 Best Cities For Singles". They took into account upscale nightspots and a large number of singles who are looking to hook up or fall in love. In 2018, about one-third of the population in NYC is single. So how would one go about finding love in the Big Apple?

Online dating has many benefits, one of them being its low cost or free membership, and some users were successful in finding a lasting relationship this way. However just like with everything in life “you get what you pay for.” When you pay more to hire a matchmaker, a matchmaking agency, a matchmaking service or a dating service, you receive more. These four entities do the initial filtering of prospective matches for their clients. The terms matchmaker, matchmaking agency, and matchmaking service are synonymous - all three offer introductions with high-caliber singles which appear to be a good match for a specific client. A dating service is a cheaper alternative where the scope of the search may be more general.

Here are some of the benefits of hiring one of these four entities (for simplicity’s sake I will refer to all four entities as “matchmaker”):

When working with a matchmaker, you are guaranteed a specific number of well-suited dates over a period of time.

Your matchmaker will screen each one of your daters and do their background check.

You will not be wasting time messaging a possibly fraudulent online account. A company that screens profiles for dating companies told BBB that 500,000 of the 3.5 million profiles it scans every month are fraudulent.

A matchmaker will help you avoid meeting married people who are using online dating to cheat on their spouses.

A good matchmaker has a database of high-quality daters, which are significantly above an average profile that you may come across on a dating site.

Someone who is in top 1% concerning looks, career, accomplishments, or any combinations of these three, when creating a truthful profile, may not come across an authentic user to savvy online daters. A matchmaker can help you avoid this issue and introduce you to suitable matches which are also in top 1%.

Looking for possible matches online can often become somewhat of a part-time job. A matchmaker will take that job away from you and help you avoid the stress and frustration of online dating.

You will not be exposed to sex offenders and romance scammers since matchmakers are obligated to do a thorough background check.

The benefit for women, when using a matchmaker, is that you will be meeting men who paid a significant fee to a matchmaker to find a serious relationship, whereas some guys on dating sites are just looking for sex.

Here is how online dating sites compare to hiring a matchmaker in the same areas of service:

About one-third of people who have used online dating sites have never actually gone on a date with someone they met on these sites. (Pew Research Center, Survey conducted June 10 - July 12, 2015)

According to the FBI, the most significant dollar loss of any scam that affects individuals is investment fraud; second is romance fraud.

A Consumer Reports study found online dating stressful and time-consuming to users.

28% of online daters have been contacted by someone through an online dating site or app in a way that made them feel harassed or uncomfortable. (Pew Research Center)

According to Psychology Today, one of the significant problems with online dating for women is that, although there are genuine relationship-seeking men on these sites, there are also plenty of guys who are only looking for sex.

According to Statistic Brain, about 10% of sex offenders in the United States use online dating sites to meet people. There are 8,716 sex offenders living in New York City's five counties as of November 2017, according to the New York Sex Offender Registry. The law requires that only Level 2 (medium risk of re-offense) and Level 3 (high risk of re-offense) sex offenders are required to be listed in the public directory. Here is the break down of Level 2 and 3 sex offenders in New York City's 5 counties: Manhattan - 1,758, Brooklyn - 2,399, Queens 1,545, Bronx - 2,626 and Staten Island - 388.

Romance scam victims in the United States and Canada have reported losing nearly $1 billion in the last three years. (Better Business Bureau, March 2018)

One featured expert estimates that there may be 25,000 scammers online. (Better Business Bureau, March 2018)

It is estimated that there may be more than a million victims of romance scams in the United States. (Better Business Bureau, March 2018)

Finally, let look at these two facts:

88% say that they met their partner offline, without any dating site involved. (Pew Research Center, Survey conducted June 10-July 12, 2015)

5% of Americans who are currently married or in a long-term partnership met their partner somewhere online. Among those who have been together for ten years or less, only 11% met online. (Pew Research Center)